I was able to get two sketches in before the moon rose and I got too tired.

The first is of NGC 497 in Cassiopeia, also commonly known as the ET cluster. I really concentrated on getting star positons as accurate as I could. I actually pleased with the way it turned out, given my level of experience.

I also think I may invest in an eyepatch as with both eyes open, I was able to relax and fainter stars were easier to see.

Attached Files

The other cluster I sketched was M29. I did not do this sketch as well as I could have, for several reasons. One, I was getting tired (in fact, I was still sketching in my slacks and dress shirt from work!). Two, the eyepiece height for this object -- nearly at zenith -- required me to raise my observing chair so I couldn't keep my feet on the ground and this made keeping my clipboard in a comfortable position to sketch difficult.

The combination of these two factors made sketching frustrating, but I made a note of why I was considering it frustrating and how I could mitigate that. For example, tomorrow I will construct a footrest out of spare lumber.

I kinda rushed this sketch and skipped over a great deal of stars to the north-north-west in the FOV.

I did stumble upon a little trick that I am sure is obvious to a great many of yall. In my initial view -- 1.3 degree FOV -- the number of stars was a little overwhelming. Well, I threw in my barlow and halved the field of view! Less stars! (Perhaps the only benefit of light pollution.)